Devotional 5-15-09

In the Garden

If you are a man, think about the first time that you drove your date to the prom. If you are like my husband, I imagine that you paid special attention to the car. You made sure that it was spotless, perhaps waxed, swept inside. The car needed to look perfect. Now imagine if you did all of that work – paid all of that attention to the car – and then forgot to pick up your date.

Years ago, I was in a bible study class. One of the guidelines we were taught to follow as we explored the Bible was to think of it as a cart carrying cargo. God’s message – the cargo – is much more important than the cart which carries it. The prom date is (hopefully) more important than the car.

Consider one of this week’s lectionary readings – Genesis 1:1-2:4a. It’s the first creation story in the Bible. Our society often gets trapped in arguing about the cart. We engage in court action to make sure that intelligent design is taught in our schools. We argue over the existence of dinosaurs and the age of the earth. We buy bumper stickers which portray a large Christian fish eating a small Darwin fish. We debate the validity of evolution.

But none of that is God’s message. Concentrate on the message, because the message will change your life.

In the beginning, God – The first four words of the Bible are hugely humbling. “In the beginning, God…” tells us that we are NOT God. God existed before anything else. When I consider all the ways in life that I attempt to be God, I find enormous relief in the truth that I AM NOT GOD, and neither are you.

God created – What more do we really need to know? God created. He imagined the world and spoke it into being. His methods are the cart. His action of creation is the message. God created the world and everything in it. It is His. We are His.

God created humankind in his own image – We are not God, but we are His children, created in His own image. Has anyone ever said to you, “I knew your parents before you were a twinkle in your father’s eye”? When God breathed life into the first man and woman, you became a twinkle in his eye. When Eve’s heart started beating, God could hear the echo of your heartbeat in his mind. When Adam stood in the garden, staring at awesome wonder at all that God had created, God took joy in it, and dreamed of the day that you and He would stand together, as you held your daughter for the first time, amazed at her existence.

You are a child of God, created in His image, and loved beyond description by the God who dreamed you into existence. Don’t miss the message, because it will change your life.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known. (Austin Miles)

Kim Matthews